Meet the creative artists who elevated Netflix show ‘Stranger Things’ to cult status

The 1980s served as inspiration for the show's poster and typeface.

(Left) The poster for Season 1 of 'Stranger Things'; (right) Visual artist Kyle Lambert referenced the 1980s to design a poster that would embody the spirit of the show | Photo: @kylelambertartist

Stranger Things, the Netflix sci-fi/horror/thriller show about four intrepid kids and their encounter with a parallel dimension (among a whole lot of other plot points), is slowly reaching cult status. And it’s not just because of the terrifying twists and turns (and the super cool powers of titular character Eleven).

The show’s stylistic recreation of the 1980s mood and setting is fascinating—from the font to the groovy poster.

The poster for Season 2 of the show

For Kyle Lambert—the Los Angeles-based visual artist behind the Stranger Things poster—creating a poster isn’t always about just being creative—it’s also about telling a story, and embodying the spirit of the show.

Although trained in oil painting, Lambert has successfully blended his love of technology with his passion for art. This is not the first time his work has been appreciated. A video of him painting Morgan Freeman digitally has garnered over 14 million views, spurring appreciation for the modern art form.

Poster artwork stages by Kyle Lambert

The show’s creators were straightforward with their brief—they wanted Lambert to create a ‘80s style movie poster. Lambert quickly deep-dived into research on a few key artists of that period, especially Drew Struzan—the American artist who has created more than 150 movie posters.

Lambert said the show’s creators insisted on a poster that would have recall value. After all, when people flick through the thumbnails on Netflix, they’d want to come across a visually-appealing poster. Lambert decided to channel his knowledge and appreciation of art into creating a poster that would serve as a fitting tribute to what the past represented, but with a modern twist.

While he feels illustrated art posters have character, not a lot of shows want to be associated with it considering it evokes a sense of nostalgia. It isn’t current and modern. Maybe the Stranger Things poster will change that perception.

Another talking point of the show features the typography. Michelle Dougherty, an award-winning motion and graphic designer who serves as the show’s creative director, is responsible for it. The primary typeface is Benguiat, chosen for its deep links with the “king of eerie” Stephen King’s paperbacks in the 1980s.

Dougherty was tasked with designing the typeface even before filming on the series started. All she had as reference material was the script of the first episode. That pretty much set the tone for the kind of typeface that was to be designed—something creepy.

The primary typeface is Benguiat, chosen for its deep links with the early 1980s Stephen King paperbacks

The use of red and black in the fonts was essential in evoking a visceral response from viewers. Originally, the letters of the typeface were much smaller, sort of like pieces of a chess game. But, Dougherty and the team evolved the sequence, focusing on the big pieces of the type to make it seem that the forms were coming together, with the idea of pieces of a puzzle coming together serving as inspiration.

If you’re currently binge-watching the show (like we have been doing), take a second to appreciate the artistic vision of the creative crew that has managed to arrest your attention.